Multilamp flash unit

ABSTRACT

A multilamp unit of flashlamps of the type which are percussionfirable by striking an ignition tube of individual lamps. The unit includes a novel base which is adapted to be received in appropriate structure on photographic apparatus and which will rigidly support the ignition tubes of the flash unit for percussion yet maintains a large striking zone in which firing mechanism can contact the firing tube.

United States Patent 33X EH3 l MN 20 4 2 1,936,315 10 1933"Kobay51i'.......l..........

2,091,601 8/1937 Leijdens........ 3,096,025 7/1963 Prochnow 3,407,717 10/1968 Ernisse....... 3,459,933 8/1969 [72] Inventor David E. Beach Rochester, N.Y.

[21] Appl. No. 765,930

[22] Filed Oct. 8, 1968 [45] Patented Oct. 12, 1971 [73] Assignee Sylvauia Electric Products, inc.

Danvers, Mass.

Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner-Fred L. Braun Attorney-Joseph C. Ryan [54] MULTILAMP FLASH UNIT 1 Claim, 17 Drawing Figs.

ABSTRACT: A multilamp unit of flashlamps of the type which are percussion-firable by striking an ignition tube of individual lamps. The unit includes a novel base which is adapted to be received in appropriate structure on photographic apparatus and which will rigidly support the ignition tubes of the flash unit for percussion yet maintains a large striking zone in which ng tube.

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240/1.3 firing mechanism can contact the firi 3,517,182 6/1970 Brooks et PATENTEDnm 12 I9?!" SHEET 10F 2 DAVID E. BEACH INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS PATENTEU E 2 3.612.849

SHEET 2 BF 2 DAVID E. BEACH INVENTOR.

x w zzlww ATTORNEYS MULTILAMP FLASH UNIT CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Reference is made to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 765,931, entitled Socket for Multilamp Flash Unit, tiled Oct. 8, 1968 in the name of David E. Beach, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,248.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to flash photography and more particularly to disposable multilamp photoflash units for use with a camera or other photographic apparatus adapted to support operably and ignite such units.

2. Description of the Prior Art There previously has been developed a unitary package containing a plurality of. photoflash lamps and individual reflectors such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,087, issued on Apr. 5, 1966. In use, lamps in a package of this type are sequentially aligned with respect to the picture-taking axis of a camera and electrically ignited in synchronization with the actuation of the camera shutter.

More recently a similar multilamp photoflash unit has been developed which does not require application of an electrical potential for firing. In such units a pn'mei charge in a metal tube that extends from the bottom of the-lamp is ignited by the percussion and in turn ignites a combustible material and combustion-supporting gas sealed in the lamp envelope.

Although such a percussion ignitable flash unit offers an important advantage by precluding the necessity for an electric ignition source, several problems have arisen in adapting this type of unit for reliable use with photographic apparatus.

Firstly, it has been found that an important factor affecting the reliability in firing of percussion-ignitable flash lamps such as described above, is the rigidity of the primer tube during striking. A problem is therefore presented in providing means for mounting these'flash units in photographic apparatus with the primer tubes supported rigid with respect to the apparatus for percussion striking. This problem is compounded by the additional considerations that such a flashlamp unit desirably should be conveniently attachable and removable and the receiving support should desirably be movable with respect to the photographic apparatus to index successive lamps of a received unit.

A second problem presented with respect to the percussiontirable flash units is that the base of the unit should be supported rigidly as described above yet accessible for the primer tubes of the unit to receive a striking blow from a firing mechanism. This problem is amplified by the consideration that a base and cooperating socket should desirably provide a large zone of access to enable percussion by various different striking mechanisms that might be advantageously utilized in different photographic apparatus using the flashlamp unit.

The known prior art apparatus and procedures relating to the firing of photographic flash powder are very old art and do not provide any acceptable solution for the problems outlined above. Likewise, the more recent art relating to electrically tired, multilamp units does not provide teachings helpful in overcoming the difficulties presented in obtaining rigid support and a large striking zone for a percussion-fired lamp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is addressed to the problems pointed out above and provides means for removably mounting a percussion-firable, multilamp, photoflash unit on a photographic apparatus in a manner such that the primer tubes of the unit are held rigidly with respect to the apparatus yet disposed for percussion striking with a large striking zone.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved base adapted for use with socket structure in a photographic apparatus to support a percussion-firable, multilamp, photoflash unit for firing and aligning rotation in a photographic apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flash unit with an improved base for supporting the nnitrigid with respect to a photographic apparatus yet capable of easy attachment and removal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flash unit with a base' for rigidly supporting a percussion-tirable flashlamp and for allowing a large field of access for firing percusslon.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a percussion-firable, multilamp, photoflash unit having an inexpensive and readily fabricated base structure for supporting the unit in photographic apparatus for use." I

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to one skilled in the art from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements and wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a photographic apparatus and flash unit of the type with which the present invention can be used.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a flash unit showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2a is a similar view of a socket adapted tobe mounted on apparatus such as in FIG. I and receive the flash unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2b is an enlarged view of a portion of one of the lamps in the flash unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the flash unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the base of the flash unit shown in FIG. 2 when mounted in the socket shown in FIG. 2a, the section being taken along the line 4-4 indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the base and socket shown in FIG. 4, but taken along the line 5-5 shown in FIG. I;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another socket adapted to receive a flash unit with the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a side view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the flash unit of FIG. 2 inserted in the socket shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the flash unit of FIG. 2 inserted in the socket of FIG. 6, the section being taken along the line 88 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a flash unit showing another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9a is a perspective view of a socket which is adapted to cooperate with the flash unit shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the flash unit base shown in FIG. 9 inserted in the socket shown in FIG. 9a;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another socket adapted to cooperate with the flash unit shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 10, but of the socket in FIG. 11 with the flash unit shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of yet another socket with which the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 can cooperate; and

FIG. 14 is a cross section of the socket in FIG. 13 with the unit of FIG. 9 inserted therein.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a flash unit 10 of the type with which the present invention can be advantageously used is shown schematically, mounted for indexing rotation in a known manner on a photographic apparatus 20, in this instance a still camera. However, the present invention can be used similarly with other photographic apparatus such as camera flash-adapters and auxiliary flash units.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 2b, the flash unit 10 comprises individual lamps 12 with hollow ignition tubes 11. Each tube I1 is closed at the bottom and opens at the top into the lamp envelop 15. A percussion-sensitive primer material 13, such as zirconium and fulminate or known ballistic primer material, is coated on an anvil pin 14 within the hollow tube II and is exploded or activated upon percussion to the tube 11 by the sudden deforming of the material pinched between anvil l4 and collapsed wall of tube 11. The activation of the primer charge passes up through tube 1 1 and effects ignition of the combustibles within envelop I5.

When used with such photographic apparatus the flash unit is inserted in a camera socket with the ignition tubes 11 extending to a location opposite a suitable percussion-firing mechanism 21 located adjacent thereto. In operation the firing mechanism can be cocked by movement of a film-advancing lever 22, and released by a shutter release lever 23. The flash unit is rotated and indexed in a known manner about an axis of rotation to present successive unused lamps in alignment with the camera picture-taking axis.

In FIGS. 25 one specific embodiment of the present invention is shown in conjunction with a novel cooperating socket 30, which socket and the sockets 30', 60, 70 and 80 form a part of the subject matter of my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 765,931, entitled Socket for Multilamp Flash Unit. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an integrally molded base 40, forms a bottom wall 41 of flash unit with the ignition tubes 11 of the individual percussion-firable lamps 12 extending through openings in wall 41 which are formed in base 40 and spaced around the axis of rotation 24 of the flash unit. An open-ended retaining post 43 is comprised of four walls 430 which extend from the central portion of bottom wall 42 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and define a retaining cavity 43b. It will be appreciated that although the disclosed configuration of retaining post is advantageously used in conjunction with other structure hereinafter disclosed, the structure can take otherforms, such as, for example, cylindrical.

Still with reference in particular to FIGS. 2 and 3 it can be seen that the base 40 also comprises a plurality of webs 44 extending generally radially outwardly from post 43 towards the ignition tubes 11. In the particular embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the web 44 comprises a narrowed section 45 and an enlarged end portion 46. Referring in particular to FIG. 2 it can be seen that only a lower section of the enlarged end portion 46 extends beneath ignition tubes 11 and that the tubes 11 are attached at their bottom ends to portions 46 so that the main body of the tube is spaced outwardly from the remaining portion of webs 44 and retaining post 43 in a location disposed for striking.

In FIG. 3 it can be seen that the walls 43a of retaining post 43 also define retention openings 47 located between each pair of adjacent webs 44.

Referring now to FIGS. AA and 5 in addition to the previously described FIGS. 2 and 3, the manner in which base 40 cooperates with socket will be described. In FIGS. 2a, 4 and 5 it can be seen that socket 30 is an integral structure comprising a lower portion 31 adapted to be mounted for rotation on an axis 24 in a photographic apparatus, a stabilizing stud 32 extending upwardly from the lower portion on axis 24, a plurality of retaining fingers 33 spaced around the stabilizing stud 32 and a plurality of upright protective and bearing members 34 located radially outwardly from the protective members and spaced so as to define a plurality of open ended slots 36 that are adapted to receive and rigidly support the webs 44 of an inserted flash unit 10. It will be noted that the embodiment of socket 30 shown in FIG. 2a includes a cover flange 37 extending around the socket top and having openings adapted to receive the webs 44 of the flash unit 10.

FIG. 4 shows the manner in which the post 43 of the flash unit 40 cooperates with the stabilizing stud 32 of the socket 30. It also can be seen how the openings 47 formed in the walls 43a of post 43 are engaged by ramped retaining fingers 33 of socket 30 and how a portion of the walls defining the openings 47 include a cooperating inclined surface for this purpose.

In FIG. 5 it can be seen that the upright members 34 of socket 30 and a plurality of socket extensions 38 cooperate with the webs 44 of base 40 to rigidly support the ignition tubes 11 of the flash unit 10.

In FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a modification of my novel socket 30' is shown in cooperation with the flash unit having a base 40 such as described above. It will be noted that in this socket embodiment additional bearing surfaces are provided for the enlarged tube-supporting portions 46 of webs 44 by the cups 39 formed on extensions 38'.

It can be seen therefore that when the novel flash unit 10 is inserted in a socket such as 30' the ignition tubes 11 are rigidly supported by the portions 46 of webs 44, which webs in turn are supported by bearing surfaces of socket members 34' and 39. It will also be appreciated that the tubes 11 are adapted for such rigid support by the socket 30' while still maintaining the tubes in a disposition for percussion striking from a large striking zone and further that the disclosed invention allows facile attachment and removal of the flash unit from the socket. For purpose of illustration of the strikingzone afforded by the flash unit 10 when used with sockets 30 or 30, a zone 2 has been shown in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 9, l0, l2 and 14 show another embodiment of the present invention and the manner in which it can be used in cooperation with other socket structure. In FIG. 9 it can be seen that a flash unit 10' is provided with a different base 50 from that shown in FIG. 2. The base 50 of this embodiment includes a bottom wall 51 with openings 52 and a post 53 defined by members 53a such as in FIG. 2. However, it will be noted that in this embodiment that webs 54 extend from post 53 into attachment with tubes 11 along their entire height from wall 51. It is to be particularly noted that the webs 54 of this embodiment are of thickness less than the diameter of ignition tubes II. This construction affords a stable support for the pins while still maintaining a large striking zone for ignition.

It can be seen in FIGS. l0, l2 and 14 that the base 50 of unit 10 disclosed in FIG. 9 can cooperate with various embodiments of my novel socket disclosed for illustration in FIGS. 9, l1 and 13.

In FIG. I0, the unit 10' is retained by engagement of fingers in openings 57 of post 53 and the webs 54 are supported in slots 66 by upright protective and bearing members 64. For purpose of illustration the zone z within which a firing mechanism can strike tube I1 supported in base 50 and sockets 60, 70 or has been shown in FIG. 10.

In FIG. 12, the unit 10' is supported within post 53 by stud 72 of socket 70 with webs 54 supported within slots by bearing members 74.

In FIG. 14, the unit 10' is supported within post 53 by stud 82 of socket 80 shown in FIG. 13 and by cups 89 formed on the end of extensions 88 of that socket. It can be seen that in this embodiment the openings 57 are utilized by fingers 83 of the socket.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a photoflash unit of the type having a plurality of percussion-firable lamps and individual lamp reflectors arranged around a central axis and having a bottom wall through which the primer tube of each lamp extends, the improvement comprising:

a. a retaining post extending from the central portion of the side of said bottom wall opposite said lamps; and

b. a plurality of support webs extending outwardly from said retaining post towards said primer tubes, each of said webs being attached to, and rigidly supporting a primer tube, said retaining post defining a longitudinal central cavity adapted to receive a stabilizing stud, and a plurality of retaining depressions extending from the outer periphery of said post toward said central cavity, each of said depressions being spaced around the outer periphery of said post between an adjacent pair of said webs. 

1. In a photoflash unit of the type having a plurality of percussion-firable lamps and individual lamp reflectors arranged around a central axis and having a bottom wall through which the primer tube of each lamp extends, the improvement comprising: a. a retaining post extending from the central portion of the side of said bottom wall opposite said lamps; and b. a plurality of support webs extending outwardly from said retaining post towards said primer tubes, each of said webs being attached to, and rigidly supporting a primer tube, said retaining post defining a longitudinal central cavity adapted to receive a stabilizing stud, and a plurality of retaining depressions extending from the outer periphery of said post toward said central cavity, each of said depressions being spaced around the outer periphery of said post between an adjacent pair of said webs. 